Prompt: Alex meets the ghosts of his past, present and future. (À la Christmas Carol, but it can be based around a different event if you prefer)

My time zone is West Coast United States time right now so technically I'm not THAT late. I rechecked the prompt though and it turns out that I can post anytime in December. By that time I was already 4000 words into my story and I cannot post that much in one go. The prompt has past, present and future. At the same time, I did manage to pick out the natural divisions in my story. I guess I'm better off just posting one chapter a day. I divided this story into 5 chapters, Prologue, Past, Present, Future and Epilogue and I'll be posting one each day, leading up to New Year's Eve with an extra chapter on December 31 to satisfy whatever I think is missing from the story or whoever gave me the prompt, you can suggest what you wanna see. Or I'm open to any ideas for that extra chapter.

Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy my take on this prompt. Btw, don't be too worried. The story is already done so the painful part is really formatting the fic on my phone before I post haha.

Prologue

A year ago, Alex spent Christmas away from home in a Scottish castle with Sabina and her family.

That was only a year ago… Alex thought wryly too himself as he recalled what had happened in between. Somehow, he had taken Jack for granted last year. He spent a huge chunk of that next year regretting that decision since Jack had "died" that summer. With everything back to the way it was by autumn, Alex had promised not to take his housekeeper and best friend for granted. Over his dead body was he going to spend Christmas somewhere else.

Alex couldn't help but somehow find some amusement in the black humor he pulled out of his unfortunate situation. By early December he had promised Jack they'd be spending Christmas curled up in the living room of their Chelsea home watching home alone videos, counting down until midnight. He was supposed to spend the next day with Tom, maybe they'd go to Soho or Picaddily.

December 18, he had gotten an assignment from MI6 to work with his old unit to infiltrate a terrorist group and rescue the son of a British Ambassador in Africa. Mrs. Jones had said that she wouldn't have called him if the situation wasn't so delicate. It could have been desperation or it could have been an attempt to pull Alex back into the world of spying.

That wasn't what compelled him into taking a job though. First, he hadn't worked with K-unit in so long and he almost missed it. Second, the job must have been important if Ben who was already working office jobs most days decided to take part. Third, for some reason, hearing the history of the ambassador who had lost his son and was going to spend the whole days waiting for news on his return, pulled on some of Alex's heart strings, taking him back to his own experience of grief and loss with Jack.

I'll be back before Christmas. Alex had told Jack as he waited outside his Chelsea house for the car that was going to take him straight to the airport and eventually, into the African jungle. As he checked his smart watch, he couldn't help but laugh at his naive self of two days a week ago. He actually thought they could finish this job in a week? The clock said 11:59 pm. In less than a few seconds, it will say 12:00 am. December 25, 12am.

London was still a few hours behind countries in East Africa and Alex was sure around that time, they still would have been preparing food to munch on while watching a movie, if he didn't take that job. That reminded him, he hadn't told Tom about it. He had assumed he'd be able to finish everything long before December 25. Even if he left then and there, with the plane ride, he'd still only have enough time to dress up and eat breakfast. With the way things were flowing in the mission though, they'll need a miracle to get home by Christmas.

Maybe the hostage they're trying to rescue dropping down right in front of them safe and sound in a parachute would have been nice, then a jet which would take them straight back to London. Wishful thinking but something to keep Alex occupied as they camped out in the trees.

"Merry Christmas team." It was Ben Daniels who broke the silence. He had a consoling tone to him Alex looked around at them, he realized no one expected to be there that long, no one wanted to be there at that time of year. What worse was in a few minutes they were going to start the infiltration stage of their mission, their main player- Alex Rider. He was still small enough to fit into most vents, more importantly he still had his flexibility to help him maneuver in and out of those small holes easily even if he had grown since last time they had worked with him.

"It's not Christmas til we finish this job." Alex replied not looking up from the time he'd been watching for over a minute. It had been 12:00 for a few seconds already. "Just find a way in without alerting the guards. We don't want any casualties." His job was routine. All he had to do was secure the hostage inside and pull him out if possible or draw a path at which K-unit can follow to minimize casualties.

Alex had done similar things a million times before. His motivation to stay quiet as he tried to dodge the line of sights of the guards was the fact that he didn't know if K-unit would come out of it alive if he caused too much of a ruckus. They were outnumbered and they all had weapons, Alex had found out as he infiltrated deeper into their hideout. Eventually he had come across the hostage. He was a young boy only three years younger than him at the least. He seemed much smaller though under the pale light of his cell.

Alex pressed his back to the wall when he realized he was distracted, for a minute or so, he hadn't been watching any guards that could have been watching his cell. He let out a sigh of relief as he didn't hear any change of pace or sudden sounds that could mean he was spotted.

The security was too late, Alex was almost tempted to call K-unit then and there and tell them to just storm their way in. He had to stop himself though when he realized the young boy was still far from secure. He didn't need to call his attention, the boy had been following his gaze since a while ago. Alex put a mouth to his own lip to hush the boy. Can he really help this boy without alerting the group? His response was automatic. Before Alex could even assess the situation any further, his instincts had kicked in and Alex found himself burning through the lock of the cell.

"If I kick this door down, it means I want you to run." It was a gamble. He had contacted K-unit soon after with locations of the guards and to spread themselves out and go deeper into the hideout so if ever they're caught, the boy could just run. Alex will be right behind him to make sure killing shots don't hit him as he runs. Wolf and Eagle had already messaged saying they have moved deeper inside the hideout. Alex had no time to wait for any other responses. He had felt the cold metal was pressed to his back and he knew he had been found. If he gave up then there, he was a hostage, they'll fix the lock, hell, they'll hurt the kid. In the end, Alex saw the most blatantly risky option to be that with the least risk. To hell with his own life, he can manage. The kid in front of him wouldn't be able to defend himself.

Alex turned around and grabbed the gun by the barrel. The man fired multiple shots almost instinctively but not before the roundhouse kick connected to his head and he fell to the ground unconscious. Alex turned back to the young boy in the cell and pushed the door open. "You run… I'll be right behind you."

The young boy gave Alex a once over and hesitated.

"Go!" It could have been fear or urgency that pressed the boy on but in the end it worked.

Wolf should be stationed just outside the entrance. If the kid just keeps running straight for the next minute, Wolf should find brain was rationalizing his sluggish movements. Alex pressed on anyhow, trying to keep his pace only a few steps slower than the boy so he wouldn't lose him. He had brought out his gun, ready to shoot anyone that could attack the boy.

He didn't have to shoot anyone. Less than a minute after he had broken open the cell and let the boy run free, they had run into Wolf. He hadn't heard them break in. Did they use a silencer? Did they take out all the other guards.

His own inner monologue hitched to a stop as a wave of sleepiness washed over him. He deserved a break. It was Christmas. He should just swallow his pride and rest on the wall behind him. Wolf will wake him up anyway when they're ready to go home.

Merry Christmas. He thought to himself. His thoughts then drifted to fruit cake and ham and he was asleep.

Do tell me what you think!